I know, I know, this is how many “Christians are just way too fucking sensitive – All hail Richard Dawkins” posts start. But relax, this isn’t one of them. For one thing, I don’t believe Christians are inherently stupid. You know who’s stupid? Stupid people. Yeah, I went there. And secondly, this made me laugh rather than drive me into a frothing rage. So basically, I’m just going to briefly link and quote some articles about this hyped up event because my views can be summed up thusly: people need something to be angry about, so they’re going to find something to be angry about. Oh, and ignorance is so not bliss.

Enjoy.

Obama and the Crusaders | The New Yorker – Not much frothing here, just a good dose of level-headedness and fair points. Although I don’t agree that Liberalism really “is the belief that toleration is not enough, that an active, affirmative pluralism is essential to social sanity.” That should exist, but that’s not what the reality is. Anywho, it’s a good read.

“The job of the good historian is to balance understanding with indictment; it’s the polemicist who tries to use history only to plead innocent. The acts of the Crusades, like the facts of slavery, happened.”

“[H]is comments on the Crusades and the Inquisition represent the latest ratcheting up in his quest to change how people talk about terrorism. He views Islamist terrorists as exploiting their religion; his opponents believe there is something about Islam that creates fanatics who are willing to carry out terrorist attacks… Words matter, and the way this issue is framed is going to go a long way toward determining how the “war on terror” will be waged.”

Obama, The Crusades, And The Alternate Liberal Reality | Western Journalism – And to round it all off, here’s a pretty priceless article to kick start your weekend, be it productive or lackadaisical. You deserve a good chuckle. It’s hard to find an excerpt that really encompasses the author’s whole mindset fairly, so I’m just going to encourage you to read the whole thing for yourself. To quote the New Yorker article above, it employs a lot of the “Ma, he started it!” tactic and some convenient historical shuffling. You’re welcome.

Have a great weekend, everyone. What are you weekend plans? Opinions on this little brouhaha of the week? (And maybe I should call these posts “Facepalm Fridays,” whaddya think?)